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Small amount of cereal in bottle

Baby is 24 days old and breastfeeding.

For the past few days, about 20 minutes after every feeding, baby would start to cry and act as though she is in pain. Straining, clenched fists, legs alternating between tucked in and straight out. This would last for 15 minutes or so before she would fall asleep. Often she would wake up with a scream.

An hour later, she would be hungry again, and the process started over.

Sounds like gas. We are burping baby, but she acts like this is gas in her gut.

We thought possible symptoms were foremilk/hindmilk inversion or dairy allergy. Wife has one breast that is extremely engorged that the baby prefers to feed on. The other isn't producing much, and baby struggles to nurse. We are actively working on correcting that problem and getting the breasts balanced based on advice from this forum. But the baby was primarily feeding on the engorged breast, and never until the breast was even near empty. And regarding the dairly allergy, Wife loves milk, cheese, etc. We are cutting that out of her diet to see if it helps.
We might be 100% wrong, but at least we are trying different things in an attempt to find something that works.

Last night I (the dumb husband) tried an experiment. I took some rice cereal and ran it through a clean coffee grinder to produce an extremely fine flour. (this grinder was new, and never used to grind coffee) This flour does not readily disperse in cold milk, but does disperse in warm milk if vigorously shaken. The reason for grinding was because I could feel the original product in my mouth when I drank it in milk. But I could not detect the fine flour in milk. Plus, it easily goes through a Medela slow flow nipple.

I added one teaspoon of this flour to 2.5 ounces of fresh breastmilk.

Baby readily adapted to the bottle, and consumed half of it.

No crying. No spit-up. Nothing that looked like she was in pain.
She fell asleep a few minutes later.

Three hours later, we had to force her awake. (diaper change always works)

I fed her the remainder of the bottle, and she nursed from wife's breast until she was content. She stayed awake for about an hour with no fussyness, no pain. Wife cried because baby was so peaceful and happy.

It appears the world is divided on when to introudce "solid" food to infants. Pediatricians seem to say no earlier than 4 months. But most elders say they did it. My wife and her brothers were all spoon fed cereal at 6-weeks. Several other older mothers I know say they were using cereal by about a month.

The problem I'm having is figuring out what constitutes "feeding baby cereal".
Are most of the people I'm reading about talking about actually spoon feeding a 4-week old infant, or are they talking about a bunch of cereal mixed in a bottle? Or are they talking about a teaspoon in 2.5 ounces of milk?

Medical professionals are so risk adverse it wouldn't surprise me if they say to avoid using cereal before 4-months to reduce their liability if something happened to go wrong.

I've read several people on this forum say cereal doesn't help a baby sleep longer. Maybe it doesn't help with sleep, but it did appear to reduce pain, which allowed her to sleep.

I would like to know if there are real problems with giving cereal at this age.
I've read about allergies, but I can't find any research indicating it is a real risk. And is the amount of cereal I gave the baby significant? I have no idea if I gave her too much, or not enough to even think about.

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

First of all, how nice of you to be on this forum. We rarely have men.

SEcondly, personally and I am sure other mamas will have more links to what I am going to say. 24 days is way to young to start any form of solids.And cereal is bottle can lead to dangerous consequences. It may also lead to overeating.

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

I haven't tried it yet but my ped says that rice cereal is okay my LO is 6 weeks and when I took him for his month check he was very gassy and just unsettled, he seemed like he always wanted to feed. She told me that it was okay to put a tablespoon in with a bottle because he has slight reflux and that this would help the milk stay down a bit. Ped also said to try to keep him upright at least 30 degrees after feeding for 30 minutes. I have done this and it seems to help a lot, I just lay him on my chest and lay back in a recliner slightly and he goes right to sleep. I am crazy and want to wait it out until he is at least 2 months if not longer for the cereal, but my husband really wants to try it out.

first time momma to Jax born 11-15-09 6 lbs 10 oz
1 month 9 lbs 1 oz ... one month down many more to go

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

Thickened feedings are suggested by many doctors. However, thickened feedings do not always work (Bailey et al 1987), can interfere with breastfeeding, and may increase the risk of food allergies. Some studies have shown that thickened feeds can have an adverse effect on growth in some babies and increase the risk of respiratory involvement (Orenstein et al 1992). Because thickened feeds remain in the stomach longer, they may actually cause more reflux. For these reasons, mothers should consider their options very carefully before deciding to use thickened feeds. If a mother does want to try this, she can use her expressed milk thickened with cereal and offer it with a spoon before regular feedings at the breast. Surgery on the LES is a rarely used treatment except in the most extreme and unresponsive cases.

Studies have shown that formula-fed babies are more likely to exhibit symptoms of GERD than are breastfed infants. Weaning from the breast should not be regarded as a good solution for GERD. Non-thriving babies should be evaluated for underlying illness. In most cases, GERD can be handled through proper breastfeeding management, positioning, mother’s diet, and education. When these steps do not bring about relief, more extensive testing and other treatment options may need to be explored.

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

Just a side thought but, if this just started recently...couldn't it be a growth spurt? Around 3 weeks old my LO hit a growth spurt and acted the same way.
I did the cereal thing with DD1 and DD2 and although we didn't have any problems because of it, they both weaned early. DD1 at 4 months and DD2 at 8 months. I did not introduce any solids with DD3 until 6 months and she is still going strong on nursing at 10 months. Just be wary of the cereal! If your LO has reflux I have heard that a little thickening can help but, meds can also help.
Just my 2 cents!

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

I am wondering if the little one is getting too much foremilk since she isn't fully draining the engorged breast when she nurses. That could account for the gassiness. Has your wife tried expressing a little milk before baby latches on to see if she will completely drain the breast that way? As for one breast producing more than the other, that's pretty common, myself included.
True the older folks will tell you that they all gave their babies cereal in a bottle, but consider how many of that generation are now struggling with obesity. You have to wonder if the overfeeding in infancy set them on that path. It's worth considering along with the many other reasons to delay solids.
Good luck to you both, I really hope you are able to get it figured out. Please reassure your wife that it does get so much easier as time goes on. What a good husband and Dad you are to take the time to be so involved!

Re: Small amount of cereal in bottle

Sorry your baby is giving you such a rough time! I would take her to the pediatrician and discuss the issue you're having. Based on the behavior you describe, I'm thinking that she might have some reflux. The old treatment for reflux was "thickened" feeds- basically, just what you did the other night with the rice flour and bottle. But there are other, better options now- from simple things like positioning baby upright after feedings to anti-reflux drugs like Zantac.

What are her poops like? I would be reluctant to suspect a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance without lots and lots of green poops.

I think it's great that you're trying the dairy elimination- a dairy allergy could explain a lot.

It appears the world is divided on when to introudce "solid" food to infants. Pediatricians seem to say no earlier than 4 months. But most elders say they did it. My wife and her brothers were all spoon fed cereal at 6-weeks. Several other older mothers I know say they were using cereal by about a month.

Our elders did a lot of things that we wouldn't do today, all based on the medical advice of their day. I don't think you will find any current, widely-respected medical advice advocating introduction of cereal or other solids prior to 4 months, minimum.

The problem I'm having is figuring out what constitutes "feeding baby cereal".Are most of the people I'm reading about talking about actually spoon feeding a 4-week old infant, or are they talking about a bunch of cereal mixed in a bottle? Or are they talking about a teaspoon in 2.5 ounces of milk?

Medical professionals are so risk adverse it wouldn't surprise me if they say to avoid using cereal before 4-months to reduce their liability if something happened to go wrong.

I agree that risk aversion is one reason why medical advice tends to be so conservative. However, that doesn't mean it's always wrong.

Basically, every bit of solid food you give your baby replaces breastmilk, and you want to maximize breastmilk intake because that's the healthiest substance a human being is ever going to eat. And then there's the issue of the method of delivery- giving bottles can lead to breastfeeding failure if the baby becomes hooked on the ease of bottle-feeding, and bottles often lead to overeating because it's so much easier to get fluid out of a bottle than it is from the breast.

Also, there is the issue of the "virgin" infant gut. In an infant, the development of immune exclusion, by which the gut learns to recognize and exclude harmful substances like pathogens and allergens from passing into the body, is mediated by secretory immunoglobulin A (SiGA) derived from mom via breastmilk. Bypass this process by feeding baby solids before immune exclusion is even modestly developed, and you could be increasing the likelihood of allergies. See this terrific article for the full story: Why We Develop food Allergies. P. Brandtzaeg. American Scientist 2007, iss. 95 no.1.